Update

I think my last post may have had a tone I didn't mean to elicit, so now I'm wondering if I did it unintentionally.  I meant for it to sound matter-of-fact, me trying to make myself realize that things are actually pretty good right now even though money's tight.  But as a result, I received various e-mails and comments and phone calls of support, so thank you to my lovely friends and family for your endless support.  Plus today, for some reason, I feel I made some potentially good inroads to getting a job.  I have no specific evidence as to why I feel this way, aside from using LinkedIn to make a connection and looking at another university job.  Who knows if either will pan out, but simply making those moves buoyed me immensely.  My mother would be so proud of me: both she and DH rock when it comes to making a Plan (you must capitalize The Plan).  They're both detail-oriented when it comes to getting things done, so I get it from both sides.  This helps because I do not always get those details that seem screamingly obvious to them, like immediately seeing who we know when I apply for a job so I can possibly get my resume noticed above the other hundreds like me, clamoring for work, or making a List of What I Have to Do and What to Do to Make Things Happen. 

But I digress.  On this crazy Friday night I have successfully managed to cook a great dinner and finish Mockingjay, PLUS get a haircut and have nice-looking salon hair, so the fact that it's 8:40 and I may well go to bed in 20 minutes does not faze me.  Did I ever think I'd have this life?  Me on one couch, T on the other, excited about the fact that we just got new space heaters for the bedrooms, both with one ear listening for noise on the baby monitor?  Hardly.  Yet I love the life I have.  It would take too long to explain; I just know I'm happy and plan to work very hard at staying that way.

On a side note, the other night I made an amazing Brazilian fish stew (Moqueca) that T pronounced "restaurant-grade quality".  Got the recipe from my dad over a year ago and finally got around to it.  It's really not hard to make at all, although we have to save it for an "every-so-often meal" in terms of splurging on the fish.  If the idea of a slightly spicy, hearty white fish stew revvs your engine, make this dish immediately.  It calls for serving with rice, but we didn't bother.  Doesn't need it, I think. 

Ah, yes, I know I promised Little Man pictures.  Forthcoming.  And wait until you see J in his Halloween costume (thanks to Toddler Tamer!)....